Pop Music Is The Most Listened To Genre In Australia, New Study Finds

The Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) has just released the latest results from its Music Habits survey, which looks at music discovery, investment, attitudes and consumption across digital platforms, gigs, festivals and merch in Australia.

One of the primary takeaways is that pop music is currently the number #1 genre consumed by Aussies. “Pop music is living up to its name – it is the most popular music genre in Australia,” VMDO director Jas Moore said in a press statement. “59% of Australian adults say they regularly listen to pop music, while 20% claim it is their favourite genre.”

“Pop music is living up to its name”

Rock/indie rock music was next on the list with 13% of listeners; country music was next with 11%; 10% mainly listen to the Top 40 and other current hits; while 7% of respondents mainly listened to hip hop and rap.

As for music consumption, interestingly, the old CD format is still going strong. “The survey reveals that CDs are the most common music purchase (18%),” Moore said. “However, CD music consumption is in decline, down 7% from 2019.”

Meanwhile, unsurprisingly, streaming is on the rise (up 6% from 2019), with almost half (49%) of Australians saying their favourite and preferred method to consume music is to either stream free music, access free music videos or listen to paid music.

Music is more important now than before the pandemic

Interestingly, it seems the role of music in our lives is more important now than before the pandemic. 37% of Australians said that “music is my life, my number one passion”, a rise of 5% from the 2019 figures.

When it comes to music discovery methods, YouTube reigns supreme with 31% of Aussies rating it as their top platform for finding new artists and tunes. This is followed by commercial radio (20%), music streaming services (18%), social media (17%) and TV and movie streaming (16%).

“Once discovered, 41% of Australians follow-up an artist and stream their music on YouTube, which is up from 25% in 2019,” said Moore.

Among those who discover music via social media, the survey showed that TikTok is growing (50%) and that Facebook is still important (61%). 55% of respondents rated Instagram as their main social media source of music discovery.

Some more juicy stats

On average, Australians listen to 1.9 hours of music every day, but this shifts depending on age. “The survey discovered that under 35s listen to an average of 2.3 hours of music a day, with 15% listening to more than 4 hours. While over 55s are less frequent consumers, with over 20% saying they don’t even listen to music most days,” said Moore.

In good news for the live music sector, gig attendance also seems to be growing.

“There doesn’t appear to be any reservation for music fans to be in large crowds. 18% say they are visiting stadiums at least a few times a year to watch live music, which is up from 13% three years ago,” said Moore.

Finally, despite a general vibe of increased enthusiasm for music, overall music spend in Australia is still recovering from Covid. Spending on recorded music is up 5%, however there’s significantly less cash being invested in live music (down 18%) and merch (down 15%).

“Even though there is a lower spend on music, it’s pleasing to see that under 35s are the most willing to invest in music with 59% purchasing live music tickets, CDs or merchandise,” said Moore.

For the full report, you can slap your mouse here.